Sarah and Andy made it plain they wanted to start a family, which was one of the primary reasons for Sarah to stop driving and focus on being a team owner this year, so I'm thrilled for them. Sarah's mom, Reba, is going to be en fuego. HUGE.

March 29, 2011

ESPN’s live telecast of the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., on Saturday, March 26, earned a final national household coverage rating of 1.6, averaging 2,148,001 viewers, according to the Nielsen Company.

The Fontana race was moved to a different time in the series schedule this year. In comparison to the race that was held at Nashville Superspeedway in the same timeframe last year, the rating was up as the Nashville race earned a 1.1 rating on ESPN. In 2010, the Fontana race was held in February, as the second race of the season, and earned a 1.7 rating on ESPN2.

Overall, the combined network average U.S. rating for the NASCAR Nationwide Series so far this season is a 1.7, the same as it was at this point in both 2009 and 2010.

March 28, 2011

Good stuff from Shannon McIntosh in her latest diary. She gives us a peak inside the brain of someone who is going from being a front-of-the-pack oval driver to a back-of-the-pack (for now) road and street trainee.

Shannon is a warrior and, as such, puts HUGE expectations on herself. So remaining patient with the learning process in USF2000 is going to be a challenge, which Shantastic readily admits. READ IT HERE.

Randy 'Nard Dog" Bernard has to be in the whiskey today with news that ABC ripped down a 1.4 overnight rating for the St. Pete race, according to ABC/ESPN PR. Ratings won't be final rating until Thursday since ABC is a broadcast network.

Last year's race was rained out, ran on Monday, and aired on ESPN2, so comparisons would be bogus. St. Pete was on Versus in 2009 and on ESPN in 2008. A 1-point-anything is a major step forward for IndyCar for any race outside of the Indy 500.

The overnight is just the 55 largest TV markets -- the rating could go up or down based on viewership in the rest of the country.

Later Monday, IndyCar released this re: the ratings

ABC's broadcast of the IZOD IndyCar Series season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 27 delivered its highest overnight rating in metered markets for a race since 2007.

The 1.4 rating for 56 markets was surpassed only by ABC's telecast of the July 2007 race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Final ratings for this broadcast are expected on March 31.

"I'm very encouraged by the ratings for several reasons," said Randy Bernard, CEO of INDYCAR, the sanctioning body of the IZOD IndyCar Series. "First of all, it was standalone. It wasn't in the late time slot, during which there typically is more household viewership. Second, it's our highest-rated non-Indianapolis show since 2007, but even that show had a great lead-in with the British Open (with Padraig Harrington defeating Sergio Garcia in a four-hole playoff).

"We're ecstatic with our ratings and with the double digit percentage of growth with the live attendance at the event, and we believe INDYCAR is going to continue to make substantial progress in the next couple of years."

ABC's 2-hour, 30-minute telecast of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the scenic 1.8-mile, 14-turn street circuit featured the dramatic debut of side-by-side restarts, a young female driver dueling with the 2004 champion for third place, bumping and passing, and contenders eliminated in the first turn of the initial green flag lap.

The 100-lap race was won by reigning series champion Dario Franchitti of Target Chip Ganassi Racing, who started next to pole sitter and 2010 chief championship protagonist Will Power.

Kentucky, Connecticut, Butler and Virginia Commonwealth fill out a Final Four that, by most ways of looking at it, is the most unimaginable in the history of an NCAA tournament that has never lacked surprises.

March 25, 2011

We excitedly clicked on to timing and scoring from IndyCar.com this morning and got ... nothing. SHOCKER. The technologically advanced racing series has an intermittently putrid online experience. I guess that can never change, despite our continued complaints and whining. So ...